


wizardistan: [1. a history of {desi} magic]

by rhapsodyinpink



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Headcanon, Multi, Multicultural, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 04:56:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhapsodyinpink/pseuds/rhapsodyinpink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've been talking to some friends about desi wizard life in Great Britain, and it just got me thinking about desi wizards in the Harry Potter world and had lots of feelings, so I thought I'd write them down! The title "wizardistan" is inspired by the book Londonistan, and also refers to India (Hindustan) and Pakistan.  These have been really quickly written, so I apologize for any plot holes and inconsistencies! It's brainstorming more than anything else, really. Hope you enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	wizardistan: [1. a history of {desi} magic]

Daayan. Pari. Apsara. Jalpari. To most people now, they are all different words for the same thing: witches and wizards. Displacement and war dilutes the centuries of carefully-held knowledge that families once carried with them from village to village, from one city to another. The descendants of glittering apsaras search for glory in faded auditoriums, separated by thousands of miles from the celestial courts where they belong. Children that share the blood of great daayans of the past now learn about pale, white wizards in cold, snowy classrooms far away from their ancestral homeland, where magic blooms from deserts and jungles and glistens in the cold air of the Himalayas.

But there was once a time when these four defined the elements of desi magic. And to some muggles who have a fascination for the dark and mysterious and search for secrets in dark corners of libraries, they still do.  

The connection is weaker now, but not forgotten. And it will live on, as long as the stories continue to be told.

 ** _Apsaras_** have magic brighter than the sun, Indra’s favorites and sisters to Surya, _kalakari_ s who manage to spin and sing and draw and dance faster than anyone you’d ever seen, so beautiful people call them fairies—but they are as mortal as anyone else, and that, perhaps, increases their allure. When Shah Jahan wanted to build the Taj Mahal, his daughter Jahanara consulted all the local apsaras, and they whispered suggestions to her. With their help, they constructed the most beautiful monument to love the world had ever seen. They draw their power from the air and sky, though there are some apsaras who also draw magic from light.  

 ** _Daayan._** Darkness and war. Destruction and creation. Earthy, moody, misunderstood, and powerful.  Rooted in tradition and protected by Kali and Bhoomi, they were once revered, but are now feared by a population of people who don’t understand them. Time has severed their understanding. They forget that without the daayan, there would be no villages, no life, no freedom. Daayans drew life from the earth and battle every element that tries to destroy the fragile human world back into the darkness. And yet darkness gives them power, so it finds both a foe and a friend in the daayan clans. A daayan is a wonderful friend to have and a fearsome enemy.  

 ** _Paris_** are the guardians of family life. There is one in every family—they are often the most subtle members of their families, their goodness flickering quietly like a diya in a window. As their power comes from fire, they have high body temperatures, which is often a dead giveaway. But still, paris are very subtle magicians. They are the round-cheeked matriarchs of the villages, the cheerful grandparents who give jalebis to round-cheeked grandchildren and tie amulets filled with protective spells around the arms of their impulsive family members who are ready to seek adventure but never think of its dangers, the town physicians who do their best to make sure illness never comes to any of the homes they look after—they are blessed by Krishna and Agni and are the glue that hold their families together in the greatest adversity.  

 ** _Jalpari_.** The Englishmen called them “sirens”, “sea witches”, “mermaids”. Once, the Jalpari laughed at the simple way in which these pale men misunderstood their magic. They were queens of the rivers and tides. They answered to no one but Ganga and Jamuna. The monsoon was their ultimate masterpiece, and they found no greater joy than watching the non-magical people dance with such happiness when it came. And then the pale men came and invaded their waters, bringing darkness and confusion to the people on the land, creating fear and desperation. The Jalpari called to their daayan sisters for help, but even the daayan were powerless against these invaders.

And so, their power lost and their waters polluted, the Jalpari seek vengeance. But still, the icy waters of the Atlantic have seeped into their skin. It draws them to hide their tails and head to wintry new lands, where they meet Jalpari from other lands who share their stories of violation and despair. Their feelings of injustice crest in a tidal wave of pure rage, but thousands of miles away from the source of their power, the Jalpari find themselves unable to conquer, and so they adjust to tiny apartments and cold stares from light-skinned locals, tucking the warmth of the Arabian sea away into their blankets and carefully wrapped seashells, as the bitterly cold wind of the Atlantic beats against the paper-thin walls of their cheap seaside apartments.


End file.
